SHRI EKNATHI BHAGAWAT

(English Translation with Sanskrit Text)

(Translation into English of the Marathi Commentary

on the Eleventh Skandha of Bhagwat Mahapurana,

by Saint Eknath)

Original Marathi prose translation by

Late Shri K. N. Athalye

Research and editing of the Marathi book

by Late Shri R. K. Kamat

Enghlish prose translation

by

Shri D. A. Ghaisas

KESHAV BHIKAJI DHAWALEMumbai-400 004

Translation by D. A. Ghaisas

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Ebook Edition : 2012

E Book Publication No. : 1

ISBN : 978-93-82259-30-5

© Keshav Bhikaji Dhawale

Published by

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Keshav Bhikaji Dhawale

Samarth Sadan, 1st Bhatwadi,

Girgaum, Mumbai - 400 004

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This book is dedicated to

Saint Shri Eknath MaharajD. A. Ghaisas

Preface by the Translator

It is with great pleasure that this English translation of the Marathi poetic commentary by SaintEknath on the Eleventh volume (called Skandha) of the famous mythological book of ancient Indianamed Bhagawata Mahapurana is being presented to the readers in India as well as abroad, who arenot acquainted with medieval Marathi language but are conversant with English. I have translatedeach verse in prose English avoiding difficult terms and using only those terms which are easilyunderstood even by students in the higher standards in middle schools and even in schools of Englishmedium of education.

Each verse is printed in Sanskrit in Devnagari script as is the tradition and the succinct meaning ofthat verse is immediately following it. Then the Ovis of saint Eknath comprising his commentary aretranslated, keeping the sequence of Ovi, without any change in the number. After I completed theEnglish version of Dynaneshwari and Dasboadh this is the third venture of mine which is beingpublished by messers Keshav Bhikaji Dhavle, renowned publishers of religious literature in India,and I am specially indebted to them.

The typesetters of this book Smt. Smita Bhave and Shri Vijay Bhave of Dombivli have done thelengthy job very carefully and I thank them.

Miss Kalyani Bhave has helped me write the manuscript and Miss Sampada Bhave was also veryhelpful in preparing the manuscript of this book. I thank them and also others who encouraged me tocontinue the work inspite of my ailments. Again, I express my thanks to all, including the printers,binders and present this humble effort of mine to the readers of religious books of devotionalphilosophy, which describe the glory of Lord Shri Krishna.

Dombivli (Maharashtra) D. A. Ghaisas

Foreword by the Publishers

This English book is a translation of Shri Eknathi Bhagawat, which is a voluminous work by SaintEknath, in Marathi Verses, being a commentary by him on the Eleventh Volume of the famousBhagawat Mahapurana. Earlier we have published English translations of Shri Dnyaneshwari andShri Dasboadh, which have been received by English knowing readers with welcome. We hope thatthis book will also be appreciated at large by devotional readers who want to learn the teachings of

the Lord Shri Krishna given by Him to his dear devotee Uddhava.

Mumbai-4 Joyti Dhawale

Keshav Bhikaji Dhawale

CHIRANJEEVA PADA

Qualifications for attaining liberation

A special piece of advice by Saint Eknath for

aspirants about how to conduct

their life.

(1) There is no other way for a seeker to attain Masterhood or Freedom from the bondage of thisworld. That way is being shown hereafter to the seekers, who may please pay attention.

(2) The first qualification is repentance. What do we mean by repentance? The seeker must beaware that he may meet death any time and he should not enjoy physical pleasures without thisfear, without this apprehension.

(3) The seeker should ask himself – “What is the purpose of this valuable human body which I havegot by great luck? How badly have I used it for enjoyment of objects of senses? In vain have Ilost the great opportunity of leading the righteous life of spirituality!

(4) When he laments about losing the great opportunity, he develops desirelessness. I shall now tellyou what is this quality of desirelessness.

(5) This desirelessness is of three kinds according to the three Gunas, viz, Sattwa, Rajas andTamas, as explained by Masters of Yoga.

(6) The desirelessness of Tamas quality belongs to a man that does not do his duties as ordained byVedas, who does not do good deeds, who is acting in the most corrupt way and is very dirty.

(7) In the Rajas quality of desirelessness a man gives up many possessions but he has a hope to behonoured by the people. He loves the company of saints but propagates his name indirectly soas to receive adulations and applause from public celebrities and society at large. He is havingattachment to his disciples.

(8) The saints do not at all like the desirelessness of Rajas and Tamas quality; because, that doesnot lead to meeting the God Almighty Shri Krishna and is the root cause of or invitation todisaster.

(9) Now please listen to the desirelessness of Sattwik quality, which I, the Lord of the Yadavashonour. This should be quite well-understood by you.

(10) The man, who has this Sattwik quality, refuses to be involved in any enjoyment of objects ofsenses, and if by chance and destiny, he becomes confronted by any such situations, heimmediately runs away.

(11) There are five sense organs attracted to their objects and they definitely go against the path ofspiritual progress, and; therefore, the seeker does not allow his heart to indulge into anyaffection in their respect. Please listen to how this is done.

(12) Popularity is very detrimental to the seeker of spiritual achievement. When there is popularityand when people give respect to him, he is likely to be detracted towards pleasures. Pleaselisten about this.

(13) Suppose, a man is really ascetic, and indifferent to physical enjoyments etc, people praise him,and applaud his qualities. People call him to their house to perform his pooja, and worshiphim.

(14) His desirelessness is like a soft and delicate thorn, and it does not resist that approach, theman is immediately pleased, and becomes involved.

(15) People talk in sweet flattering language. They say – “This is the incarnation of Lord Hari. Hehas come to uplift us, and lives among us, in human body for our welfare”. This man likesthese sweet words.

(16) This is the first of the five objects of senses, which is called (word and) sound. Now, I shalltell you about the sense of touch.

(17) People offer to this man soft seats, give him pleasant bed to sleep, men and women serve himphysically by massage etc., by soft touch. This creates in his mind love for pleasant touch.

(18) Now, listen to the way in which the object of sight, which is beauty, attracts and disturbs themind of the seeker. People give him beautiful dresses, and ornaments, and many beautifularticles. Thus he becomes attached to beautiful body.

(19) This is the way by which beauty, which is the subject of sight, attracts him. Now, the object oftaste should be considered. People give him sweet and delicious food articles to eat,especially those for which he has natural liking.

(20) He jumps to get a chance to eat those things, and becomes addicted. Now smell also catcheshis attention. Please listen to how this happens.

(21) This man is fond of sweet smell of flowers or “chandan” or saffron etc and if he gets them, helikes to repeat the experience. Now, by the way of honouring him, people bind him to theobjects which he likes.

(22) Now, after sometime the very persons, who were flattering him begin to criticize him, but he isnot awakened. He is having partiality for those who praise him on his face.

(23) You may say that a man, who has the power of discrimination, will not be affected by honourgiven to him by people. But he who says so personally likes to be applauded by people and itis his folly to make this statement.

(24) The men of self-knowledge refuse to accept such applause even though by peculiarcircumstances and destiny, honours are offered to them, or if they accept for the reason ofsocial custom, they never get enslaved by those appreciations. They quickly become very muchdisinterested.

(25) Thus, the seeker cannot be free from the praises etc but by the grace of God, he becomesdesireless, and free.

(26) What is the sign of such a desireless man? First he avoids the place where he gets honour. Heleaves such place as soon as possible and the second sign is that he chooses to live in thecompany of good righteous and saintly people. The third sign is that he does not worry at all.That man has no anxiety state.

(27) Such a man does not create his separate group as against other cults, and is not provoked byenmity. He avoids pride. He talks sweet words but he does not flatter anybody. He has no fearof death.

(28) He does not like to sit with people who are engaged in household problems and ambitions. Hedoes not like to talk freely to anybody. He does not like to show off his authority or superiorityand he does not hanker for rich and delicious food.

(29) Such a desireless man does not like involvement in public affairs. He does not like richclothes and any ornaments. He does not like to eat food at other’s houses and he does not liketo amass money.

(30) He does not like to sit with women, or to look at women, to appreciate their beauty etc. Hedoes not like to be close with them nor their talk.

(31) He thinks – “I do not want to be in the company of women, I would not be in their intimaterelationship. I do not like to teach them or talk with them about spiritual matters. Women are asource of disaster for men”.

(32) You will ask me = “How can a seeker, who is himself a householder, avoid the company ofwomen? He has his wife in his house. I will give you a satisfactory reply.

(33) He should not be enamoured by any woman other than his own wife and even by mistake heshould not give asylum or harbor in his house, any other woman (except his mother,grandmother, etc.

(34) Even his own wife should be kept aloof except when there is the ordained time for conjugal

relation. He should not be attached to her continuously.

(35) Men and women serve him and with their kindness they invoke the sense of attraction in hismind and they show great devotion, but the seeker who is really ascetic, does not sit in thecompany of women.

(36) He remains alone and never enjoys the company of women. He is unattached and fearless,living in seclusion at all times.

(37) When he does not worry about maintenance of family, he is satisfied with what he gets withoutasking, or begs for rice or grams and Dal, for his daily food, by going from door to door. Whenhe lives in this way that should be termed as pure and austerity and desireless life.

(38) When people are not of this level of apathy towards sense objects, how can they attain the loveof our Lord Shri Krishna? So, devotees of the Lord Shri Krishna should lead a life of thisnature.

(39) He who thinks that he is united with Shri Krishna but does not have this state of mind, which isreally ascetic, he should be considered to be a foolish and ignorant man.

(40) This is not my statement at all. Really, I have told what the Lord Shri Krishna has advisedwhile teaching Uddhava the real life of a devotee.

(41) He who thinks that His advice is not true and doubts about it, does not reach the divine feet ofthe Lord. I am not worried at all! I have done my duty of conveying the Lord’s message andfinished my responsibility.

Eka of Janardana says that in this human body only, it is possible to attain self-knowledge anddesirelessness and people should try this wholeheartedly. There is no other way to reach Him – theLord Shri Krishna.

End of instructions to Seekers.

Dedicated to Gopal-Krishna.

The Life Story of Saint Eknath

This book is English translation of the Marathi commentary of the 11th Skandha (Volume) of thegreat Bhagawata Purana. This commentary is in Ovi Meter i.e. in the most popular meter in whichgenerally the saints have written poetry which is treatises on difficult Sanskrit works of ancient sages.Bhagawata Purana (Mythological book) contains philosophy as well as stories of various devotees ofLord Vishnu and incarnations of the Lord which took place during the span of many centuries. It alsocontains the stories of various kings. The 10th volume contains mainly the story of the life and exploitsof Lord Shri Krishna and this 11th volume contains mainly the dialogue between the Lord ShriKrishna and his loving disciple Uddhava, accompanied by some stories enhancing the morals of theascetic life which dialogue took place before the end of the Lord Shri Krishna’s incarnation.

As the purpose in the mind of Saint Eknath was to explain in Marathi the teachings given by theLord Shri Krishna to Uddhava and various manners in which other earlier teachers had taughtreligious philosophy, he had chosen this 11 th volume. This contains 1367 Sanskrit verses in theoriginal text and about 18,000 Ovis in Marathi. Effort is made to bring out in English Prose thecontents of Marathi text, Ovi by Ovi in simple language to suit all English knowing Readers. As isnatural in the case of such translations certain terms in Sanskrit are required to be kept as they are,spelling, being adhered to in such cases, phonetically.

Now a short life sketch of Saint Eknath is given here to acquaint the readers with the characteristicway in which the author led his life. Eknath is believed to have lived about 100 years before theadvent of king Shivaji. Some records say that he was born at Paithan, (a city famous even in thosedays for highly educated and learned citizens) in the year 1533 A.D., but some other scholars do notagree with that, they say that the year of his birth was 1528 A.D. Bhanudas who brought back the idolof Shri Vitthal from Vijaynagar to Pandharpur was the ancestor of Saint Eknath. Chakrapani was theson of Bhanudas, Suryanarayan was the son of Charkrapani and Eknath was the son of Suryanarayan.Thus Eknath was the great grandson of Bhanudas. The name of the mother of Eknath was Rukmini.Thus Eknath was the son of Suryanarayana and Rukmini. He became later on a well-known saint. Hisfamily belonged to Deshastha Brahmins of Rigveda Tradition and the name of his Gotra wasVishwamitra. Ekaveera is the family Deity of Eknath. As the birth of Eknath took place in the periodof Moola Star system the destiny proved to be bad, in that, his parents died soon after his birth. As aresult, the burden of bringing up the child Eknath fell on the shoulders of his grandfather –Chakrapani. The “Thread Ceremony” of Eknath was performed when he was six years of age. Heread Geeta, Upanishads, and the six Darshanas, books of philosophy and mythological books likeBhagawata etc. Writing, reading and arithmetic were learned by him at a very early age. He had earlycontact with philosophy of devotion. His mind took interest in spiritual path but he was not luckyenough to have any spiritual preceptor. He was eager to have the blessing of some Guru. He asked hisgrandfather about it. The latter gave him guidance to go to Devgiri Town and meet the holy JanardanaSwami who was a well-known scholar and saint. Eknath went there; the young boy was very smart

and had an easy flow of well-cultured speech. When he met Janardana swami he very humbly bowedbefore him and requested to accept him as a disciple and give regular initiation in the spiritual path.Janardana Swami had an idea how brilliant this boy was. He asked him some questions about hispersonal life and knowing that he had taken permission of his grandfather and was already well-versed in some literature of the path; he gave him initiation and accepted him as a disciple. From thattime Eknath began to live with his Guru.

The Spiritual Lineage

The succession chain of the teacher-disciple chain of Saint Eknath is written by almost allbiographers as Narayana – Brahmadeva – Atri – Datta – Janardana – Eknath. This is supported bysome thinkers and it is generally believed that the Lord Dattatreya who is the son of the sage Atri isthe grand teacher of Eknath. Some people however believe that Chand Bodhale (Chandrabodh) wasthe teacher of Janardana Swami. Many contemporaries of Saint Eknath have mentioned ChandBodhale as the Guru of Janardana Swami. Some mentioned that guru Chand Bodhale was RajeMohammed and the Guru of Raje Mohammed gaus. In those days the system of tradition of keepingexact chronological record of events was not much practised. As a result there are many opinionsabout the names of gurus and disciples.

There is a mention in the biography of Saint Eknath that while he was living with his preceptor, heused to keep accounts very carefully. On one occasion he remained awakened over-night just to findout an error of one pie. This was noticed by Shri Janardana Swami. Looking to the sincerity andconcentration of the disciple, Janardana Swami began to love him like his own son. Janardana Swamiused to sit quiet alone in the fort and go into trance. It is reported in his life-sketch that the LordDattatreya occasionally met him personally. One day Janardana Swami thought it fit that Eknathshould be taken to the Lord to see him. One Friday he took Eknath with him and went to a secludedplace on the North side of the fort. He said to Eknath – “My dear, nobody else except the LordDattatreya comes here, but one cannot be sure in what disguise he would come. However, you shouldnot be afraid”. Swamiji sat on a big flat stone and went into his usual trance. After some time therecame along a man in the attire of a Muslim mendicant. They are called faquirs. He was ill-clad. Hehad a deer skin on his body. There was a katora (begging bowl) in his hand and a bitch followed himclosely. Janardana Swamu became aware of the approaching monk. He got up and ran towards Himand held his feet with reverence. The faquir lifted him by holding his hand and both of them sattogether talking in low tones. Shortly, the monk gave Swamiji that begging bowl and told him to milchthe milk of that bitch. Swamiji got up and did as he was told. The monk took out from the shoulderbag he was carrying some pieces of stale bread and mixed them in that milk. Both of them enjoyed theimprovised meal. Swamiji gave that begging bowl to Eknath and told him to cleanse it in the nearbypond. Eknath went to the pond. He took some water in the bowl, and the crumbs of the bread, whichwere remaining were mixed in that water. He drank that water. The monk had seen what he wasdoing, and understood the devotion. He also understood the reason why Janardana Swami told Eknath

to wash the bowl. This was the time, when Eknath got the correct guidance. A miracle happened, themonk was now appearing like the Lord Dattatreya, and the bitch appeared like the divine cow. TheLord caressed Eknath and said – “Dear Janardana, this boy who is your disciple seems to be bornwith divine qualities. He will give spiritual guidance to people. I am much pleased with him”. Thenthe appearance of the Lord Dattatreya as well as that of the monk was no more visible. The mind ofEknath was filled with great ecstasy. Afterwards the Guru and the disciple left that solitary place andcame home.

Penance

Eknath was advised by Janardana Swami to go to hill by the name Shoolabhanj, which was on thenorth-west of Devgiri, and to sit meditating on the Lord Shri Krishna. Eknath went there. During daytime he used to meditate and eat some fruits in the evenings. A cowherd saw this boy doing penance.He began to bring a pot of milk for him, which Eknath thankfully accepted. One day by chance, thatcowherd came there earlier. He saw that a cobra was holding his hood on the head of Eknath toprotect him from hot sun rays. Suddenly, the cowherd gave out a cry. The cobra went away. Eknathwas awakened from the trance. Janardana had advised him to come back if any strange eventhappened. Eknath, accordingly, came back to Devgiri fort, bowed before his Guru and told him whathad happened. Janardana Swami said – “This is a sign that your study of meditation is completed.Now is the time for us to go for a pilgrimage”.

Eknath was in the company of his Guru for twelve years, during, which period, he learnt manyscriptures, but afterwards, the Guru taught him about the realization of Brahman.

Eknath went for pilgrimage with his Guru. First they visited the town by name Chandravati on thebank of the river Godavari. There they met Shir Chandrabhatt who was a scholar, ascetic and a yogi.At night he presented for them a good commentary on a certain portion of Bhagawata Purana, viz thefour verses No. 32,33,34, 35 of chapter 9 of volume 2 of the Purana. This was a very informative andinspiring talk, listening to which, Swami Janardana was pleased and he advised Eknath “You shouldalso write explanatory commentary on these four verses”. Accordingly Eknath wrote his owncommentary while they both visited Panchavati and “Trimbakeshwar” in their journey. Thiscommentary is an example of deep scholarship and beautiful language. During the writing of thecommentary Eknath had a strange experience in the following words – “the inspiration of composingpoetry was unbroken in all the states and the sleep. While I was doing my daily work, while I wasbathing, performing morning and noon and evening prayers, while taking my meals the hiddenmeaning of Sanskrit verses used to appear before my eyes as if written in the air. At that time, Irealized how great is the power and influence of the order of the Guru”.

The pilgrimage lasted quite long after which Eknath with his Guru Janardana Swami returned toDevgiri. After some days Swamiji told Eknath to go for pilgrimage to eight Ganpati temples andtwelve Shiva temples and covered the Northern India also. So, again Eknath, as advised by his Guru

completed that pilgrimage also. After that Eknath came back to Paithan. Here Eknath again met hisgrandfather Chakrapani and grandmother, after many years. Janardana Swami had earlier given aletter with the grandfather for Eknath. The letter was handed over to Eknath by Chakrapani. In thatletter, Eknath was given instructions that he should reside in Paithan only and enter into the family lifeand continue to worship god.

Eknath’s family life

According to the instructions of his preceptor, Eknath married at Paithan only in the year 1479 ofShaka era. (1557 A.D), The bride’s name was Girija. Some say that she was from Vaijapur whilesome other say that she was from Daulatabad, but no definite written record has become available.Eknath built a house at Paithan and made it his permanent residence. A relative by name Uddhavacame to stay with him and began to do all the household works in the spirit of service to Eknath.Some researchers are of the opinion that he hailed from some other region different fromMaharashtra.

Girija was the devoted wife. She looked after Eknath and their family life began happily.Shrikhandya, another servant joined Uddhava. Swami Janardana had already given Eknath a goodideal life of householder by example. Eknath’s family life was also an ideal one. His life was richwith salient virtues such as self-control as to mind and body, generosity, compassion, for all beings,equanimity, giving of alms to poor, charity, worship of god by proper ritual, singing songs andperforming programmes of keertanas (story telling accompanied by songs about the God) discourses,remembering the name of the God by repeating with a rosary of beads, devotion, study of scripturesand religious books, peaceful disposition, yoga and practice of meditation and contemplation andcontentment etc.

Eknath had a son by name Hari (later on famous as Haripundit, and two daughters named Goda(pronuciation of 'd' as in the word the) and Leela. Godavari was given in marriage to Chintamani, ofthe family of Mudgala in Paithan. Mukteshwar, the famous Marathi poet was her son) The seconddaughter was married to one Balkrishnapant Chadraketu from the neighbouring village Dumbala. Hernew name after marriage was Goda. She had a daughter by name Laxmi. She was married to NarayanDixit from the village Mahagaon in Gulburga district. That family was village-priest by occupation.Her son is known as Shivram Kalyanikar. He wrote a book by name Geeta-Chandrika. Eknath’s sonHaripundit was proud of Sanskrit language and had studied many Sanskrit books. He was of orthodoxset of mind. Eknath was, however, of a generous mind. The son got differences with his father. HariPundit was very angry because Eknath wrote Marathi commentary on Bhagawata, and in that fit ofanger he left Paithan for Kashi, but when scholars in Kashi praised the same commentary, and treatedit with great honour, he realized his mistake. His anger was gone! He returned home at Paithan andthus the quarrel between the saintly father and erudite irate son came to an end.

Eknath infused with God his own family life by living with a mind having no partiality or duality

but sense of unity with all Life. His home had become a university of saints and every pious person!His life was a living example of the philosophy of love for God and pious behaviour. Even though hewas leading a normal life of a householder, his mind was always in devotional contemplation. He hadmany divine qualities. People felt presence of God in him, He promoted the doctrine that by truedevotion, simple-minded persons can also be liberated from bondage of worldly life. In those daysPriest class was engrossed in and proud of rituals and strict code of conduct and people were alsomostly preoccupied with Yadnyas, ritualistic performances and other observances of fasts and vow,including shady activities for attaining evil powers! What great effort was made by saintDnyaneshwar by writing Dnyaneshwari for opening the royal road to liberation to all the people insociety was also done again by saint Eknath by writing this gem of commentary on the eleventhskandha of Bhagawata. After reading the first five chapters, Guru Janardana Swami expressed hissatisfaction, which made Eknath more self confident about the whole project which he intended tocomplete. After he went to Kashi, he completed the whole book by the year Shaka 1495. The scholarsin Kashi, at first did not like the work of the saint Eknath, because they had pride of their tradition anddid not like anybody writing commentary in Marathi – a colloquial language. But when they read thewhole commentary carefully they realized the value of the book and brought out a procession of thesame in the city. Thus, this book was highly applauded in the city in Varanasi. Saint Eknath alsocomposed the book by name Rukmini Swayamwar (The wedding of Rukmini), while he was at Kashi.That book is also in ovi form.

At Paithan Eknath lived and led the family life for forty years. His grandparents also lived withhim for some years before the end of their life.

One day Eknath learned sad news of demise of Guru Janardana Swami at Daulatabad. But insteadof lamenting the parting, Eknath did not get disturbed and suffered the sorrow with his full heart. Hesaid to his disciple Uddhava – “We are going to have a good ceremony on the sixth day of secondfortnight of the month Phalgun. Make preparation for it”. Uddhava did not quite understand. Eknathexplained – that is the date of birth of Swami Janardana. That is the date on which he personally sawthe Lord Dattatreya through the blessing of My Guru, on this date Swami ended his life. Now, anotherimportant happening will take place on this auspicious day. You will know the details later on”,

According to wish of Eknath on the sixth day of second fortnight of the month of Phalgun, the deathanniversary of Swami Janardana was observed with great ceremony. For meeting the expensesUddhava borrowed 700 rupees. The time limit of repayment was over. On the day, when people wereabout to dine, the money lender suddenly appeared and warned – first repay the debt. If you takemeals without repayment I swear by the God Panduranga. All people sat without food. The moneylender gave the warning and went away. In between the Lord Shri Krishna took the form of Uddhavaand returned the amount of Rs 700/- with interest at the house of the money lender. The money lendercame to know about this when he reached home. He quickly came back to see Eknath and begged forforgiveness and said I am very sorry that all of you are hungry and waiting for dinner”. Eknath said –“I do not understand why you are asking to be forgiver!” We will take food only after we pay backyour loan!”. The money lender was confused. He explained what had happened. Here was now thetime for Eknath to be confused. He understood that while Uddhava was present with him the Lord hadimpersonated and paid back the loan!

Eknath is famous for his virtues such as peace, pity, compassion, forgiveness, tolerance, and widerpoint of view. He endured insults and injustice made to him He had no consideration whethersomebody is rich or of high caste. He had no differences in his mind. His peace of mind was neverdisturbed. There is a story about his virtue of tolerance. One day he was returning home after taking abath in Godavari river, and arrogant Mohmedan officer sitting in a window on the upper floor of hishouse spat on him from above. Eknath quietly went and tool bath again. When he returned that personspat again. Eknath took bath again. This happened again and again. At last, the Mohmedan personrepented and came down, fell at Eknath’ feet, and begged for forgiveness.

A Mischievous Brahmin

Eknath never got angry. Some mischievous persons used to irritate him, so that he would get angry.One day, a Brahmin entered his house with his shoes on and entered the shrine room and sat on hislap, when he was worshipping. Eknath, instead of getting angry put his hand on the back of theBrahmin affectionately, and said kindly – “Now, please take dinner and then only go home”. Aftersometime, the dinner was served, the wife of Eknath, Girija was serving food. That Brahmin, in orderto tease Eknath climbed on the back of Girija. He thought that Eknath would be angry, but Eknath wasnot disturbed. He said to the wife – “Please take care. The Brahmin may fall down.” The wife said –“Do not worry please. I have had practice of working while our son Hari was carried by me on myback. This son is a bit bigger. That is all”. Eknath did not think this enough. He gave two-hundredrupees to that Brahmin which amount was needed for the thread ceremony of his son. It is notnecessary that the Brahmin repented.

Religious rites

One day, there was dinner prepared in the memory of the dead father of Eknath. The food wasready. At that time some men belonging to untouchable caste came at the door and smelling thefragrance of the cooked food, they desired to have that food. Eknath did not mind. He thought thatthough those people will take food his dead parents would be satisfied. What did he do? He calledthem inside, and sent a man to their locality to call more people. Many came. Enough food wasprepared. All took the rich food and being satisfied went back after saluting humbly, to this generousman. Eknath cleaned his house properly and prepared food again for offering to ancestors, which wasto be given to the Brahmins who were to come for dinner, but the Brahmins declined to enter thehouse where low caste people had been entertained. To take diner there was a far cry! Eknathrequested them, but the Brahmins denied and challenged him – “If Atman (soul) is one in all thebeings, why not call personally your father and other ancestors?” Eknath said – “All Right. You can

see for yourself”. Brahmins came in and they saw that not only the ancestors of Eknath, but also theancestors of those Brahmins were happily dining. They were visible to all. The Brahmins were non-plussed and held the feet of Eknath. They quietly sat for the dinner and went home satisfied”.

A low caste man by name Ranya had called Eknath for dinner to his house. He had great respectfor Eknath. His wife and himself were devotees of the God Panduranga. Ranya was a regular pilgrimof Pandharpura. Eknath agreed. But Brahmins in the town made a great issue out of this because inthose days, it was very unlawful and anti-religious for a Brahmin to take food at the house of suchpeople. Brahmins came to his home. They found him present there, and they already knew that Eknathwas also dining at the house of Ranya. The Brahmins were ashamed. The fact was that Lord ShriKrishna had appeared to the Brahmins as Eknath.

Once Eknath was going to the bank of river Godavari for performing the sandhya ritual of the mid-day. It was summer and the weather was very hot. The soles of the feet were being scorched. On theway, he saw a low-caste woman walking speedily and her little child hurriedly following her. Thechild suddenly fell and began to cry. Eknath was moved by pity. He lifted that boy, wiped his mouth,his face and eyes by cloth, and holding him on his arm, covering his head by his shoulder – cloth wentahead and handed the boy to his mother. Eknath was thus very sympathetic. This compassion was notlimited to human beings only. There is a famous story about his kindness. His son was carrying thewater of Ganga River from Varanasi, which was to be carried to Rameshwar temple and offered tothe Lord Shiva there, but when Eknath saw a donkey lying in the hot sun, panting and suffering fromthirst, he poured that sacred water in the open mouth of that donkey. Eknath accompanied by manypeople had gone ahead to meet his son Haripant to welcome him, and this act of compassion wasdone by him there. All the people were annoyed. They thought that a lot of spiritual merit would havebeen earned if that water had been taken upto Rameshwar. They argued with Eknath, but he pacifiedthem, and explained to them that to have pity towards such beings is the highest religious act. Thus thetravel of that sacred water ended at Paithan, which was no less a sacred place than Rameshwar.

Blessing Krishnadas Mudgal

Krishnadas Mudgal, a scholar had begun writing Ramayana. Most of the story was already written.One astrologer prophesies that he would die an untimely death and his work would remainincomplete. He rushed to see Eknath and told him about it. Eknath read some portion of hisRamayana, which he liked. He said to Krishnadas. “How much time do you think you will take tofinish writing? Reside at my home. Start writing further”.

That scholar lived with Eknath. He finished the book writing in eleven days. He died much later.The astrologer was proved wrong. Thus Eknath had postponed the death of that scholar.

Hari Pandit and Dinner for One Thousand Brahmins

Eknath did not observe untouchability. He used to explain Vedanta in Marathi. Getting angry aboutthis, his son left home and went to Varanasi, as we have already read. Eknath, the kind-hearted father,felt forlorn at this parting. He went to Varanasi to bring him back. He came to Paithan but put acondition that Eknath should not explain Vedanta or mythological books in Marathi. Eknath stoppedall his programmes. Hari Pandit began instead, but the listeners were not coming to hear!

An old lady who used to come to listen to the discourses of Eknath, came and told Eknath –Respected one! I was once rich but now I have become poor. Earlier I had intended to give dinner toone thousand Brahmins, but now it is not possible. Now my wish is only to invite you alone to myhouse for dinner. Will you kindly oblige me?”

Hari Pandit regarded the wish of the lady with due respect. He was also ready to go, but hedesired to cook the food himself at the lady’s house. Eknath and the old lady agreed. All went to herhome. Hari Pandit cooked the food personally. Eknath sat at the dinner – what that lady did was thatshe herself put one laddu in the plate of Eknath. After dinner, Eknath told his son to lift and removethe empty leafy dishes of both. He did so. Under the dish used by Eknath, he found dish below dish,which were one thousand

That old lady got the merit of giving dinner to one thousand Brahmins, by giving food only toEknath. At this miracle, Hari Pandit was ashamed and bowed to the feet of his father. Eknath told himto follow the path of devotion. The dislike about Marathi and the sense of untouchability which werehis prejudices were gone!

Bhavartha Ramayana

There is a belief that the river Godavari used to visit in person to listen to discourses of Eknath.Even now, a seat is reserved for the river Godavari when Purana discourses are arranged!

Eknath was composing Ramayana in ovi form, and he was also reading aloud and explaining it tolisteners in the temple. He was of advanced age by now. A woman had sent her dull son by nameGaoba, to the house of Eknath, where, she promised – he would get Puran Poli (a delicate roundbread stuffed with sweetened paste of gram pulse). Eknath told him “You will of course receive whatyou want, but you must listen daily to Ramayana. Gaoba began to listen to Ramayana daily. Thepoetry was completed by Eknath upto the 44th chapter of Yuddha-kand (volume about the great battleof Rama and Ravana). Eknath one day declared to the listeners – I am now going to leave you. Thecall of the God is received” The listeners felt very sorry. They asked – Who will complete the poetry

on Ramayana?” Eknath said – “Gaoba will complete this Ramayana”. He called Gaoba near and puthis own hand (palm) on his head as a blessing. Gaoba prostrated before Eknath and from that daybegan to speak “ovis” for the listeners!” They felt that Eknath himself is talking through the voice ofGaoba. The remaining epic poetry was completed by Gaoba.

Departure of Eknath

On the 5th day of the second fortnight of Phalgun, Eknath found himself very indisposed. Hefainted. People thought in their mind whether Eknath will die like other ordinary men. Eknathunderstood this thought without being asked. He said to his servant Uddhava - Tomorrow is the 6thday. I am going to die, by entering the waters of Godavari river, by way of Trance. Thus all knewnow why that day was very significant as told earlier by Eknath.

On the second day, i.e. the 6th day of the second fortnight of Phalgun, Shaka 1521, a processioncalled “Dindi” started and all people in that procession reached the river Godavari. Eknath did thelast performance of Keertan in his life, on the sands of Godavari. People asked him – “When will youcome again?’ At that time Eknath spoke to them in poetic form of Abhanga. He told them in thatAbhanga –

When the path of religion is not followed

When non-religiousness increases,

Then we come down

In this world.

When there are may heretics

With their selfish deeds

Abound in the world,

We whould destroy their face

With the weapon of worship of Hari.

That Abhanga contained some such messages. Eknath entered in the stream of the river and left hisbody on the place called Krishna kamala, to the mercy of speedy flow of waters. After, when hismortal body came on the surface of water, Hari Pundit , his son, performed the last rites, by funeralfire. A structure (Samadhi) was constructed there in memory of Eknath

Among the five great saints of Maharashtra, Eknath is reckoned with great respect. It was he whoprepared a correct manuscript of Dnyaneshwari.

In addition to Bhagawata, Eknath has written many other books in Marathi ovi form – His“Bharud” style is very popular among dramatists of folk-lore. His Bhavarth Ramayana, RukminiSwayamwara and Bharud and Abhangas are very popular even in this twenty second century.

17-10-2010 D.A Ghaisas

SHRI EKNATHI BHAGAWAT SKANDHA 11

INDEX1) Preface by the Translator

2) Foreword by the Publishers

3) Chiranjeeva Pada

4) The Life story of Saint Eknath

5) Index - of Chapters

Chapter 1: Auspicious prayers, story of the King Parikshiti, the unprecedented glory of the life of theLord Shri Krishna. His plan to destroy the Yadava race in order to relieve the earth of the burdenof unbridled arrogant persons, Destruction of the race due to the anger of Brahmin; Manifestationof Moosal (pounding rod) in the stomach of Samba. Yadavas pulverize the rod and throw the dustin the sea, with the remaining iron piece. The dust grew into grass. The piece of iron wasswallowed by a fish. The fisherman catches the fish, cuts it, finds the iron piece and uses it as thesharp edge of his arrow.

Chapter 2: The saint Narada meets Vasudeva. Dialogue between Narada and Vasudeva, theimportance of seeing saints, the story of Jada-Bharat. Nine sons of Rishabha, met the king Janaka,the essence of the life of Bhagawat-devotees, signs of Bhagawat-devotees, the one-pointednessof devotees. The importance of remembering the name of God.

Chapter 3: Questions of the king Janaka (continued upto chapter 5). the nature of Maya, the waytowards liberation. The nature of God Narayana. The signs of Satguru, signs of ideal disciple, theattributes on Action and Inaction, the method and procedure of ritualistic worship, the variousimages of God.

Chapter 4: Stories of God’s various incarnations, the episode about Nara and Narayana, the storiesof adventures of the God in His various manifestations. The plight of those who are not devoteesof God.

Chapter 5: The different methods of worship according to Ages. Veda's rules about eating or noteating meat, drinking and sexual intercourse. The hidden meaning of Bhagawata religion. Thedescription of the good fortune of Vasudeo, the importance of these five chapters and of thedialogue of Nimi (Janaka) and sons of Jayanti.

Chapter 6: Arrival of gods in Dwarka to see the Lord Shri Krishna. The description of the Lord andDwarka; Gods request the Lord to return to His eternal home. Uddhava’s request to take him alsoto the eternal home of God. The natural calamities in Dwarka, Yadavas decide to go to the placecalled Prabhasa. The spiritual importance of Prabhasa. The special significance of the life andwork of the Lord Shri Krishna.

Chapter 7: The dialogue between Uddhava and Shri Krishna. His advice to Uddhava – The story ofYadu and Avadhoota episode. The twenty-four Gurus of Avadhoota – the earth, the water, thewind, the sky, the fire, the Sun, the Moon and their virtues worth emulating. The story of thecouple of Kapota and Kapoti.

Chapter 8: Dialogue of Yadu and Avadhoot continued – Python, sea, moth, bee, elephant, honeybee,deer, fish, prostitute Pingala – Avadhoota’s sources of knowledge. The thinking of Pingala andher liberation.

Chapter 9: The dangers of possessing thing, happiness in giving up possessions, the teachings gainedfrom a bird having a piece of meat in its beak, the example of innocence in child, bride, arrow-smith, serpent, example of the spider, blue-beetle and larva, and human body and what theseteach; Dattatreya Sampradaya, Importance of Satguru, Yadu’s attainment of Freedom.

Chapter 10: Unselfish performance of our duties; necessity of spiritual teacher, and his importance,signs of a good disciple, the description of heavenly happiness gained by proper performance ofactions; the bad effects of selfish actions, the doctrine of Meemansakas and Vedantins.

Chapter 11: Definitions of bondage and freedom, the examples of the sages Shuka and Wamandeva.Knowledge and ignorance, the unity of soul and cosmic Atman as a fact. The main signs of menliving in Freedom, to be studied by the seekers, The futility of word-knowledge and verbalerudition. The Vedic and Tantrik initiations, the method of image worship. Eleven places ofGod’s worship, the virtue of worship of enformed God with great virtues as against abstractmeditation. The virtue of reciting the name of God loudly and collectively. The importance ofbeing in the company of saints as the most effective means of devotion and attaining unity withGod.

Chapter 12: Advocasy of company of saints, description of fortune of Gopis, the tree of worldly life;and its destruction by devotion to the Guru.

Chapter 13: Description of three Gunas, Importance of piety (Sattwa) for spiritual life, by whichRajas quality and Tamas quality become ineffective. Question of Kumaras to God Brahma. “Ismind in the objects or are objects in our mind”?. Incarnation of God as Swan. Removal of doubtsof Kumaras by explanation given by the God. (Hansa). Returning of Hansa to his own place.

Chapter 14: Reply to the question of Uddhava viz. If liberation is attained by devotion, why scholarssay that essentially there are different numbers and principles (Tattwas) in the Prakruti?”.Differences are about human efforts and less or more importance to them and Vedas arevariously interpreted because of that. The highest effort is Devotion. The sign of the best devotee,avoidance of company of women. Description of the yoga of meditation.

Chapter 15: Occult powers are impediments in the progress in occultism. The enumeration of eightmajor powers or Siddhis and ten other powers Their achievement. The way of getting them.Description of eight, ten and five occult powers. Their nuisance and danger. Necessity to avoidthem.

Chapter 16: Eknatha’s separation of the whole book into Part I and Part II. Description of manymanifestations of God in nature. Arjuna’s question about these and knowledge given to him. Thenine complex spiritual vortices of God, like Vasudeva, etc. and their Nine devotees. Theunlimited area of images and manifestations . The importance of devotion.

Chapter 17: Religion of each of the four Ages (Yoga), Duty of each caste and status in personal life– (Warna – Ashrama) Characteristic nature and duty of Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas andShudras outcastes and last lowest caste people, common duties of all people. The duties ofbachelors and family-people (house-holders)

Chapter 18: Duties of forest-dwellers and Sanyasis. Nature of persons at high status of Paramahansa.Description of devotion to God. (Pages 844 to 878)

Chapter 19: The character necessary for attaining of liberation as told by Bheeshma to Dharma. Thesigns of Dnyana and Vidnyana. The signs of devotion and its real secret. Discussion about codesof conduct, duties, rules, prohibitions, and Gunas. The signs of peace of mind, its control andcontrol of organs and actions.

Chapter 20: Uddhava question about contradiction between orders of Vedas to take cognizance ofvirtues and vices, as against Krishna’s advice not to take cognizance of virtues and vices inkarma etc and Krishna’s apt clarification. Advice not to look for virtue or vices, which is thebest attitude for seekers. The means of control of mind, and discussions, about yoga of action,yoga of analysis, and yoga of devotion.

Chapter 21: Liberation can be attained through performance of one’ own duty. Purity and cleanlinessand auspiciousness of country, place, time, utensils and articles used in worship. Duty and failurein duty. The intention of mentioning the benefits of performance of rituals, worship, observanceof vows, as mentioned in Vedas. The hope and hankerings of ritual-crazy people. Shri Krishna asthe real man who knows the secret in the Vedas.

Chapter 22: The enumeration of basic factors or elements. Difference between the Male and theFemale principles (Purusha and Prakruti). The unity of all opinions. Discussion about birth anddeath, conditions, states of body. Their wrong application to Atman.

Chapter 23: The song of the monk (Bhikshu-Geeta). The money not sacrificed not protected byReligion soon perishes. Five claimants of money. The story of the Bhikshu. Tremendousharassement done by people; of that monk. The repentance of the monk and his musings andbroodings. Discussion about pain and pleasure. The importance of the song of the monk. (Pages

1064 to 1139)

Chapter 24: Removal of the sense of duality in the mind of Devahooti by the explanations given byKapila. The divine body of Narayana. The cosmogenesis, the infrastructure of Universe. Thesigns of final and other dissolution processes. The lower and the higher journey of the soul bykarma. Description of the various states and locations in heaven including the fixed place ofDhruva. The description of Vaikuntha. The attainment of Unity with ‘Qualified, embodied God,by devotees who worship God in form. The secret of love of devotees who have one-pointeddevotion for God. Sankhya philosophy.

Chapter 25: The way to be victorious against Gunas. The final aim to reach the abstract. Variousevident signs of the qualities of Sattwa, Rajas, and Tamas (piety, activity and inertia). Foodaccording to these Gunas, also the three types of pleasure according to the three Gunas,Happiness beyond Gunas, Egoism according to three Gunas, signs of sense of Me and “My” ness,i.e. attachment and possession – complex and mixed nature of things with three Gunas interactive.Knowledge according to three Gunas and also beyond them.

Chapter 26: Disastrous effects of attachment; to follow the code of conduct of Bhagawata is the aimand duty of human beings. Deriding of the indulgence into objects of senses. [Story of Pururawa,Aila-song] Extra-ordinary benefits and value of keeping company of saints.

Chapter 27: The method of worship for and by the devotees. Procedure of Havan according toscriptures, Eight kinds of images. Conservation of the image of God and its benefits, the glory ofofferings to God, Attainment of unity with God by devotees through unselfish devotion.

Chapter 28: Desistance from blaming or praising other’s action or nature. Necessity to see God ineverything and every being. The complete absence of world in the Atman. The state beyond bodyin the case of man of self-knowledge. Calamities do not attack or affect the faithful devotees,with one-pointed devotion for Shri Krishna.

Chapter 29: Uddhava’s request to know the way by which simple and innocent souls can attainrealization of Brahman. Destruction of Sansara, i.e. birth and death through the observance ofcode of conduct according to the path of devotion laid down in Bhagawata. Necessity of givingup the attachment to women. Exceptional cases of ancient women who were well-versed inspirituality and attained the highest state. Uddhava’s departure to Badarika Monastery at theinstructions of the Lord Shri Krishna.

Chapter 30: Description of the beauty of the ‘Person of Shri Krishna’; Great disasters in Dwarka.Internal war among all Yadavas and total destruction of that race. Departure of the Atman fromthe body of Balaram. The description of the appearance of Shri Krishna seated under a Peepaltree, wound caused to His sole by an arrow shot by a hunter named Jara. The departure of thehunter. The Lord forgives him and sends him to heaven by his existing body, by inviting anaeroplane for him.

Chapter 31: Details of how the Lord Shri Krishna left this Earth. Praise and prayers of the Lord ShriKrishna by gods and deities and sages etc. The divine sacred nature of the fourteen versesdescribing His departure, etc. Daruka, the chariot-driver goes to Dwarka, reporting departure ofthe Lord to people in Dwarka. The lamentations of Ugrasen and parents as well as spouses of theLord Shri Krishna; Yadava’s wives burn themselves with the bodies of their husband . Last ritesof all the dead by Arjuna. Deluge and drowning of Dwarka city in the ocean. Vajra is crowned.Leaving of Pandavas to ascend to heaven. Epilogue and the spiritual as well as earthly benefitsof reading and learning of this Eleventh Volume of Bhagawata Purana, including the Praise ofGuru Janardana by the saint Eknath.

Chapter 1

Om! Salutations to Shri Ganesh! Salutations to the Goddess Saraswati! Salutations to Shriguru!Salutations to Shri Dattatreya! Salutations to the divine Rukmini and Panduranga!

(1) Om! My salutations to respected Shri Janardana! (the Guru of Shri Eknath identified with theLord Ganesha). In your Being there is no concept of Beginning or End. By discarding the dualityof ‘I and You’ - I bow before your feet, in the state of unity.

(2) O Shri Ekadanta Gajanana, I also bow to You. In the Present, You are making manifest theMultiplicity in Unity, yet You are not disturbing the Unity (Advaita = Non-duality).

(3) You are called Lambodara (having a big belly) because within You the whole world – bothmoving and stationary exists and, therefore, You are really the nearest relative of all Beings!

(4) The family-life of the man who gets Your (auspicious) glimpse becomes happy and therefore, thename Wighnaharta is becoming You very aptly.

(5) O Ganaraja! (the king of Ganas), Your face is joy itself. All the four accomplishments of humanlife are Your face, arms, and Your tooth, which shines, gives light to the luminous bodies (stars,planets etc).

(6) The Vedas and the Upanishads (which are respectively the ‘Primary doctrine’ and the‘Secondary doctrine’, called Poorva-meemansa, and the Uttar-meemansa) are attached with loveto both of Your ears, and all the four kinds of speech, viz, the soundless Para, Pashyanti,Madhyama, and Waikhari – are standing with folded hands in Your mouth. (They are at yourcommand).

(7) O, Vinayaka! Your vision is such that by its power, the whole world is seen as Atman and isdivine and gives happiness and contentment.

(8) Your belly is big which is full of joy, there is joy also in the navel; and the girdle around Yourmiddle, which is called Nagabandha, is enhancing your beauty.

(9) You are wearing the white cloth of Shuddha Sattwa (Pure Piety), and the golden ornaments onYour body are appearing beautiful because of the beauty of Your own body.

(10) Prakriti and Purusha (the Female and the Male Principles) are Your two feet. You havepressed them down under Your body and seated in the natural easy posture, You are verygraceful in Your completeness.

(11) If even for a moment, we have the fortune to look at You, calamity is not found though we huntfor it. This is because of the spade in Your hand, which destroys the bondage of worldly life.

(12) You pull, by your crooked goad, such devotee who is very dear to you, and freeing him fromthe disaster of wordly life, keep him safe with You.

(13) By giving the sweet 'modaka’ which is joy itself, to Your devotee, who is really desireless,You give him real ecstasy of divine joy.

(14) You are easily established in the smallest object and, therefore, the adjective ‘Mouse-Rider’is very properly fitting for you.

(15) If we observe carefully, You are neither man nor elephant, thus You are beyond the visible andinvisible. Knowing You to be beyond any modification, (Vikara), I most respectfully saluteYou so that You may help me in writing this book completely.

(16) First of all, who is the ‘ME’, who is bowing before such Gajanana, who, though a non-doerhas become the expander of the story of this book!

(17) Now I will bow before the Goddess Saraswati, who is the very image of the power ofdiscrimination between the essential and unessential, and who inspires the tendencies of all thesense organs.

(18) She is the teacher of speech, the illuminator of intelligence, and the giver of light to the light,herself being self-luminant.

(19) She is the inherent power in the body of Lord Shiv, just like vision in the eyes or the juice inthe fruit.

(20) Similarly her relationship with Lord Shiv is beyond logic and without beginning, just as thereis sweetness in sugar, and fragrance in the flower.

(21) The sweetness of the Atman is infused in the four kinds of speech with all its greatness, andtherefore, the goddess Saraswati who is the presiding deity of speech, makes it possible for thereader to experience the good taste of the meaning of the book.

(22) In the world, there are men of wisdom, who are really the swans, dividing the essential and theunessential, and on the back of such swan, this deity rides in an uncanny, unimaginable posture,which appears to be very relaxed at the same time.

(23) Those who have attained the high rank of ‘Hansa’ can really understand the nature of thisGoddess who is riding on the ‘Paramhansa’. But those who are stupid, dull, unlucky, cannoteven see her though she is very near (‘Hansa’ is a yogi, who has gone up on the ladder of thepath of Nivritti (withdrawal) four rungs of initiations, and ‘Paramhansa’ is the master- yogi,who has escaped the chain of births and deaths and is fully liberated. The word ‘stupid’ isused here for ordinary people, who are bound by desires.

(24) If we try to understand her character or her nature, she is without form, but at the same time thewhole universe is her form; and it is She, who makes articulate the exquisite content of thebooks (like this Bhagavata).

(25) When we say – “These are good words” we use words only. Similarly when we praise thisGoddess of speech, we use speech only. This is like a praise of the speech by the speech.

(26) That great Goddess, who is of the nature of the playfulness of speech, who is beautiful in allrespects, dwells within me, as also outside me, and makes it possible for me, to tell equallybeautiful meaning of this book.

(27) She is always pleased as is her very nature to be happy and, therefore, the commentary hasbecome colourful. But she has taken extreme care that I will not be proud of being the speaker.

(28) Here the goddess of speech is praised by speech only, and, therefore, there is no scope forduality to enter in my mind.

(29) She has destroyed the speech, the act of speaking, broken completely the silence of muteness,but she has brought into expression the commentary in such a way that she has made articulatethat which cannot be put into words.

(30) When I set about to bow before such goddess Saraswati by separating myself from her, thesense of I-ness, together with the Parawani, (the voice of silence, the abstract aspect of originof speech) disappeared.

(31) Where there is absence of ‘‘I’’ness, where is the scope for the sense of You? Even thensomehow she is filling the great blessing in the argument concerning the subject - matter.

(32) Just as there are waves and waves of water arising continuously on the sea, here on the Realityitself the words which are also of the nature of reality are arising like waves.

(33) Just as the grains of sugar are not different in sweetness, the words of commentary, beingimpregnated with the juice of Brahman, are also not separate from that juice.

(34) There, as the sense of joy of Brahman has put together both the sense of “I” and the goddessSaraswati in one single plate, wonderfully enough, the serpent ‘Shesha’, has given a belch ofsatisfaction, who is himself the state of non-duality, and thus only, the words of the whole storyare being expressed through that state.

(35) Now we shall bow to the saints who, like the clouds of inward joy, pour that joy on the peoplewho are harassed by the problems of life and thus make them cool and happy.

(36) These saints are the ornaments of Energy, or the decorations of the spiritual wisdom or theGod’s own beautiful temple of residence.

(37) They are the resting place, the resort of absolute Brahman, or the ecstasy of happiness or thetrustworthy place of rest for the ‘rest’.

(38) Or these saints are the oceans of kindness towards All, the maternal home of compassion orthe beautiful limbs of the abstract, which glorify the inner joy of the Self.

(39) Or they are the vision in the eyes of even the satisfaction of that vision or are those in whosetoe of the foot, even the satisfaction itself is satisfied.

(40) These saints are such that those people at whom they look with kindness are freed from fearand calamity and for them the absolute Brahman stands clearly visible of its own accord.

(41) They do not care much about the four qualifications of Sadhana or for the play of erudition ofscientific knowledge but only plain devotion and purity of mind is sufficient to invoke the lightof their knowledge.

(42) They live in the world, and every creature looks at them but people are misled by doubt anddue to their disbelief, say that the saints do not exist.

(43) Really speaking the world is at a loss, because it does not trust, and it is deceived due todoubt. For instance, Ekalavya the son of a Bhilla made a clay-image of his Guru Drona and byfaith only he attained mastery in Archery.

(44) If we put our trust without doubt in our mind, in these saints, and if by devotion anddetermination put our heads at their feet, there will be no shortage for the inner Atmic powerand self-experience will be evident in our life.

(45) When we, most respectfully, bowed before them, they established immediately our unity withthem, but it is our duty to remain their servant as if we belong to them.

(46) The comparison of the enjoyment of the state of Brahman falls short of the sweetness inherentin the service to these saints, and only those who serve them with individual faith can taste thereal sweetness of the state of Atman.

(47) The saints are beyond the Prakriti (the Creation), remain within the creation, but they are notblemished by the forms, the modifications, and the activities of the Prakriti, because of theirfree state.

(48) They are not averse to enjoyment through senses and do not glorify their sacrifice, but remaineternally in their natural state.

(49) They do not flourish their wisdom and knowledge, nor show madness. They swallow the prideof having attained Reality or the forgetfulness of everything in that respect, and remain in theirease!

(50) The waves of love which arise at the time of Self-Realization, die down in their own body;similarly the ecstasy and wonder which one feels at that time is also forgotten, and theworldly-life, and the spiritual-life have become one. But even they do not remember all thesethings.

(51) The memory went away taking with it the loss of memory, the body became merged in the bodyitself, the division of the inner and the outer was wiped out, but they did not remember whetherit has gone or has remained.

(52) As they became awake in their own Real state, the state of dream and sleep disappeared, thesleep together with the sense of witnessing, flew away and the supramental state of mind wasmaddened, being replaced by stillness of the Fourth state.

(53) The object went away with seeing of the object, and the faculty of seeing was destroyed,because of aloneness. Finally their non-existence disappeared together with the knowledge,which causes that disappearance.

(54) The knowledge disappeared, taking with it the ignorance, the sense of being a knower wasdrowned and Vidnyana, (the special self-knowledge) came into being in their consciousness;but it was not a new thing appearing as such.

(55) Now it is my request as a child that the saints who are of this high rank and authority mayplease become alert and pay their attention to me.

(56) But the Sun is always full of light; Fire is always brilliant; similarly saints are alwaysattentive. Therefore, my request to them for being alert and pay attention is really childish.

(57) After listening to this, the saints collectively congratulated me and again and again gave meorders to write this book in the Prakrut language.

(58) The saints forced me, both in private as well as openly to write this book and I asked, “Sirs,which book should I begin? Please tell me.”

(59) Upon this the saints said – “In the mythological books Bhagavata is the greatest and in thatalso, the song of Uddhava (Uddhava-Geeta) is the most important. Begin to write it. The Godwill be helping you as He is the true Speaker.

(60) We are fond of stories containing knowledge and we want these stories and we have got agood writer who will talk very sweetly. What more is needed? So leaving aside our praise,start to give your commentary.

(61) We know that you get extra inspiration while praising the saints; but now begin with the storyand start telling us about the main subject”.

(62) By this blessing in the form of the talk of the saints, my mind was suddenly very happy and bytheir kind words my consciousness was bubbling with ecstasy.

(63) When in the sky the clouds thunder, the joy of the peacock knows no bounds and when the birdChatak gets the new drops of rain his mind dances with joy.

(64) Or by seeing the light-rays of the moon the bird Chakora moves by ecstasy, so the wordsuttered by the saints by their mouth have always been giving me joy.

(65) Sirs! You have really given me joy because you are yourself going to complete this task ofyours, so why should I become a prey to the notion of “I” ness?

(66) But a servant cannot flout the orders of the powerful owner, so I will obey the orders ofSwami and carry out the work, which is given to me by you.

(67) But only one thing I request you to do - and that is to give continuous attention so that by yourkind blissful glance, the work will be soon accomplished.”

(68) Upon this, the saints said – ‘Dear! We have put our mind into your mind and we are followingclosely all your words. So begin your subject without delay.”

(69) Now we will bow to the family deity. As she is united in ‘oneness’ with Eknath (the authorhimself), she does not allow any other talk except about oneness.

(70) She has shown me only oneness of her Nature and therefore, in the society and in the isolationof the forest I am seeing only one thing. She being ‘Ekaveera’ resides singly in the ears andmouth.

(71) She assumes both the forms of Shiva and Shakti (God and his Power) in her oneness andshows herself off as ‘one’ and becomes pregnant herself giving birth to one great warrior,without any other’s help.

(72) She delivered Parashuram who is the personification of spiritual understanding (Bodha) andwho is feared by very proud warriors all over the world.

(73) He was born and he killed his mother, who is the Maya, and by obeying his father, he pleasedhim and, therefore, he became victorious in the whole world.

(74) Sahasrarjuna who was the embodiment of desire and anger was killed by Shri Parashuram, andwas deprived of his kingdom, which he gave to people of his own caste viz. Brahmins.

(75) He killed his own mother, but got her revived and that Goddess Renuka is our family deity, butshe made popular her own name because the name Ekaveera and Ekanath have the samemeaning.

(76) When she was killed, there was transformation in her Nature, and so the divine motherdropped her anger, and became very quiet and peaceful.

(77) She put him in her lap, and gave him a great promise that “if her name is remembered in anycalamity, she will help and give peace.

(78) In order to declare loudly, the victory of this mother, I utter the words,”Udo, Udo,” (meaningthat I wish that the power of this mother may rise). She Herself has placed the foetus of yoga inmy intellect, and has become manifest Herself.

(79) Now, we will bow to the Guru Janardana, who is like a lion, killing the elephant of mundanelife; who is equal, in aloneness and multitude; and who is always complete in himself, keepinga benevolent eye towards all in an equal measure.

(80) He is such a Guru by whose grace the Sadhakas do not see the limbs of the body, though theylive in the body, and by whose glance the hurricane of mundane life suddenly becomes false asa dream.

(81) He is such a Guru by the grace of whose vision, the unseeable is seen without having theobject of attention, and by the very power of the position of the Guru, and the sense of being awitness to anything disappears and is forgotten.

(82) He has kept me alive without the inward Jeeva, killed the death without death, indicated theinvisible directly showing it by depriving me of the eye-sight; and afforded the power of‘seeing’ to the whole body.

(83) He has made the body bodiless within the body only, and removed the state of bodilessnessalso afterwards, but surprisingly enough, he removed the idea of ‘removal’ also, so that whatremained only remained as remnant.

(84) By his power, the existence disappeared together with non-existence, the doubt went awaytogether with doubtlessness, the wonder was drowned in astonishment, and the self-joybecame insane, and imbalanced.

(85) There I became devotee, but saw that the God is within the devotee, and I saw that the objectof devotion, the person who is the devotee and the act of devotion were all completelyannihilated.

(86) The salutation took away itself, it was not known where the person offering the salutationdisappeared, and the object to which the salutation was due became devoid of the sense of‘being’ or ‘non-being’ and therefore, he himself became that object.

(87) The object to be seen and the observer of the object both died at the same time, and the visiondisappeared by swallowing the seeing.

(88) Now everywhere everything became God, and therefore the devotee did not assume theposition of a devotee by which automatically, the God forgot his nature, and lost his Godhood.

(89) The God filled everything by his nature of godliness, and, therefore the devotee did not exist asa devotee. Both the relations were gone and only the immensity remained in itsmeasurelessness in the loss of duality, which is none else than unity.

(90) Sacrifice went into oblivion taking with itself the non-sacrifice, enjoyment flew away withnon-enjoyment, yoga was merged together with absence of yoga, and the pride of eligibility(capacity) also was lost.

(91) In all this, there is a speciality. The man who, though enjoying Sayujjya state which is finalliberation, becomes an absolute servant of God, experiences that juice of joy, which iscompletely non-destructible and beyond any logical calculation.

(92) The proverb ‘You have to become Shiv and then only you may worship Shiv’ - is applicable

to this state only (As described earlier). Otherwise to talk is futile- it is only the expression ofwords, which will not enable anybody to attain the Reality.

(93) In this grand enjoyment of being a servant, though being finally free, Narad sings and dances,and, because of this joy only, sages like Shuka and Sanaka etc. have become the devotees ofthe Reality of the Self (Swa-Swaroopa)

(94) When there is high tide in ocean, the creek area is also filled with its water. Similarly God hadgiven me Godhood and made me his own devotee, or really speaking the devotee of Atman.

(95) The sea and the river have in them the same water, but where the river meets the sea, thebeauty is something quite different. Similarly, when devotion is offered to God, whilemaintaining unity with him, the joy of that Bhajan is doubled.

(96) The left and the right are the two sides of one body, and both the names are applied to the bodyonly. Similarly, though there is apparent division between the God and the devotee, it is truethat in the God, the unity of both is experienced.

(97) Similarly the Guru Janardana has honoured me as one belonging to

Himself, and has turned me into a devotee in the state of unity, but he Himself is handling me, usingme by giving incentive to my body, speech, and mind.

(98) The saint Janardana has become the mouth of my mouth, is standing in person before me, andHe Himself is developing in me the power of discrimination (Vivek), and is getting themeaning of the book written through me.

(99) But his acts are wonderful. He has put my name in the verses, and this has left no scope forHis name being a cause of pride.

(100) Listening to this, He was satisfied, and said – “Congratulations! You are truly a ‘Statue’ ofSelf-devotion, and because of that devotion, the secret meaning is expressed by your mouth.

(101) Is it praise or argument? Is it introduction to the book or self-knowledge? Is it literaryscience or satisfaction? One cannot know what it is!

(102) Each and every word, which you are using, is the discrimination of naked discernment. Itgives extra-ordinary contentment to contentment.

(103) Whatever words come out of your mouth, immediately find agreement with the heart of thesaints. The blue-beetles of aspirants, who desire freedom, will keep on hovering and singingaround your speech.

(104) As the beginning of the book has become very beautiful, persons, who are free, who aspirefor freedom, those who are earnest students of spirituality, and those who are simpleworldly people - All the four categories of people will enjoy the happiness for their Realityonly through listening.

(105) The land i.e. the present book – has, by the sprinkling of the nectar of your talk, become fullwith the sprouts of discrimination, and bearing fruits, is really replete with theaccomplishments of literature.

(106) It is as if the lifeless has got soul, or the Siddha has again achieved Siddhi, or a faithful wifehas got a very rich and virtuous husband.

(107) Having become overjoyed by these remarks of the saints, I exclaimed “Sirs! It is all right. Iwill happily and easily explain the meaning of the book by the grace of your feet.” [Thusspoke Shri Eknath, who further describes]

(108) At the time of building of a setu (a path on the sea) it was by the blissful glance of Shri Ramthat the boulders floated over the surface of the sea, or it was by the order of sageVashishtha that his robe was brilliant in the solar orbit.

(109) Or by the rice charged with the power of the mantra of the Rishi Yadnyavalkya even to a drystick of wood, new leaves sprouted, or the king Dharmaraj made the dog that accompaniedhim, eligible to enter the heaven.

(110) Similarly the publication of the book with my name as author is indicative of the glory andthe power of the order given by my Guru.

(111) When we see the positions of stars and planets as based on the word Eka, and Ekadasha, itis one and the same, and as the totality, is seen in the one. Then its value as 10 becomes tentimes more than that of 1.

(112) When one is added after 1, it is 11 and therefore the one (Eknath) is easily inspired to writethe book.

(113) Then what is already beautiful is more beautified, and by mentally conceiving everything asOne, I start the book, in which, the Guru Janardana by making me (Eknath), the commentator,is fulfilling everything.

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(114) Now after seeing the end of the tenth Skandha (division) of the whole Purana, the Lord of theworld Himself has started the beginning of the eleventh Skandha, which is the beginning ofthis great volume.

(115) Therefore this commentary on the eleventh Skandha is being written by Eka (Eknath) on theeleventh day of the month, and I am sure that in its uniqueness, the commentary will be ableto enjoy the happiness of oneness, and aloneness.

(116) Now I bow to Vyasa, Valmiki and Bhargava, who is called Ushana (Shukra) in Puranas,who are all great poets.

(117) I pray them that they may see to the completion of this book for which they should by their

knowledge, sharpen my intellect.

(118) I also bow to the great scholarly Shri Shankaracharya to help me explain the meaning of thebook, because it is he who is giving less importance to the ceremonial aspect of religion,and has spread the light of the Sun of knowledge all over the world.

(119) I also offer salutations to the commentator of Shri Bhagwat, Shridhara whose commentary ishaving deep meaning.

(120) I also bow to the various other commentators, poets and intellectuals having the power ofknowing right and wrong, and request them to turn their attention towards listening to thecommentary which I am going to speak.

(121) Further I bow before the Prakrit poets of great name and fame like Shri Nivrittinatha,Dnyaneshwara, Namdeva and Changdeva, who are very fortunate to have received the greatblessings of their Guru.

(122) I put my head with a sense of respect and unity with great devotion at the feet of those poetsmentioned above, reading of whose books gives knowledge to the common people.

(123) One question comes before my mind – They call Sanskrit poets as Great poets, and PrakritWriters, small poets. Why is it so? For, among the flowers of gold how can we call some asnew, and some as old?

(124) Is the milk of Kapila cow only milk and that of other cows only water? Actually both themilk samples are white and sweet alike.

(125) Similarly, what meaning one grasps from Sanskrit language is also equally understood inMarathi language, so why should one not give proper status to Marathi? Where is the hitch?

(126) When a king goes to a forest, and sits at a place, his servant will respect that place as worththe honour. If the servants will not go there to serve the King, he will definitely punish them.

(127) Or if a king marries a girl from poor family and a girl from rich family, both of them are ofequal rank after marriage.

(128) The names of ordinary articles useful in family life are different in various languages, but thenames of Shri Ram and Shri Krishna etc., which are proper names, are not changed becauseof the change in language.

(129) If Sanskrit is the language of Gods does it mean that Marathi is the language of robbers? Soput aside these fruitless arguments born out of illusion and pride. It has no meaning.

(130) In short, the story of the Lord may be in Sanskrit language or Marathi language, everybodywill agree that it is decidedly sacred only.

(131) Now, I will bow to the father of my grandfather Shri Bhanudas, because it is by his merit of

devotion that our family-lineage has become very dear to the Lord.

(132) Shri Bhanudas was so great that in his childhood only, he worshipped the Sun-God, and theGod was pleased with him, and it is he, who became the Sun of knowledge, and dropping allsense of pride, he became very pure by the grace of God.

(133) It is Shri Bhanudas to see whose poetic creation, the Lord Vitthal had Himself appeared asan image in the darkness of night, when His luminous earrings were visible as they shone inHis ears.

(134) The Son of Shri Bhanudas was Chakrapani, and the son of Chakrapani was called Surya.After the birth of Surya, Shri Bhanudas left his physical body.

(135) By the brilliant Ojas of Surya, his wife Rukmini gave birth to me, and therefore Rakhumai isvirtually my own mother.

(136) I have thus paid my respects to my ancestral lineage before beginning this book. And now, Isay that – “It is my great fortune that I am born in the Kula (Family) of Vaishnavas.

(137) In this family of Vaishnavas, many great devotees from ancient times, like Narada, Pralhada,Sanaka, and others, Uddhava, Akroora, Shuka, Vasishtha etc., were born and have becomerespectable throughout the world.

(138) All of these are always attentive to the meaning of such religious books, and therefore, it is,that I have bowed to the whole succession of these great men at the beginning of this book.

(139) Now I bow to the sage Vishwamitra in whose Gotra I am born. He is another Brahma,because he created another Srishti (World). By his seer-ship, the Gayatri Mantra hasassumed great importance.

(140) I pay my homage and respects to Rishi Yadnyavalkya, who has explained the meaning ofUpanishads, and he inspires all poets by his nectar-like blessings.

(141) Now I offer my greetings to all the beings in nature, because by their help only, I have beenable to have friendship with the God. And this beginning of this book is completedsatisfactorily.

(142) Now, I bow to Bhagvan Dattatraya, who is the teacher of all the teachers, and who hasinspired me to write this book, so that his teaching can be explained to all.

(143) It is he, who shows me the words, enlightens me as regards the meaning of the words, and bygiving me the position of the speaker encourages me to speak.

(144) He says that Shrimad Bhagwat is the heart's secret of God, and he whose mind will bealways fixed in that God, will get it and understand it.

(145) This divine wisdom, which is more ancient than the Kalpa (the great dispensation) was

taught to the most intelligent Brahmadev, the Creator, in order that the Creator should be richwith self-knowledge, which wisdom was confined to only four Vedas.

(146) The faith of the good mind of Brahmadev was really wonderful, because he got therealization of the self by only listening to the words of the God. O the greatness of the graceof Guru! It removed all the doubts from the mind of the creator at one stretch.

(147) The same teaching contained in the four verses came down the ages through the tradition ofGurus. First of all Brahmadeva gave that teaching to his Manas Putra Shri Narada, who wasintelligent and devotional. (Manas Putra is the divine son whose existence is only on themental plane, and who is created and born by mental creative power. There are seven sagesand four kumaras, who are such Manas Putras of the creator Brahmadev).

(148) Listening to that teaching, the sage Narada was completely satisfied, and he himself by hisbody became the incarnation of the contents of those four verses, and he began to dance inthat ecstasy.

(149) He held his divine Veena on his shoulder, began singing in praise of the Brahman, anddancing and heaving in the very divine joy, he came down to the Earth.

(150) He descended below on the banks of the river Saraswati, where he saw the great sageVyasa. He saw that Shri Vyasa was engulfed in the whirlpool of great confusion and doubt.

(151) Shri Vyasa had written and compiled all the mythological books, which are full of themeaning of Vedas, but he was not having satisfaction, and sense of accomplishment or peaceof mind.

(152) While he was sinking deep in the sea of doubt, the kind-hearted sage Narada went there nearhim, and reassured him by advising him not to fear.

(153) He met Shri Vyasa privately alone and making him concentrate his mind, gave him fourverses, which are having the power to snap the chains of worldly life.

(154) He gave Shri Vyasa the key to the spiritual understanding so secretly that the Sun did not seeit, the sky did not hear of it nor human ears could listen to it at all.

(155) By this advice of Shri Narada, the doubts of Shri Vyasa were removed, and he was inwardlyat peace and very happy.

(156) Afterwards Shri Vyasa taught Shrimad Bhagwat to Shri Shuka, thus fulfilling the self-knowledge by that action. [Mythological books are having five subjects, which arediscussed or dealt with in them. However Shri Bhagwat is having ten subjects, and,therefore, it is called a greater Purana. The ten subjects are thus described (1) Sarga (2)Visarga (3) Sthana (4) Poshana (5) Uti (6) Manvantara (7) Ishanukathana (8) Nirodha (9)Mukti (10) Ashraya]

(157) This gave great joy to Shri Shuka, and he was satisfied. Not only this, he also went into a

trance, and remained still, his mind being absorbed into the peace of Atman.

(158) Actually, the trance itself was satisfied by being the state of Shuka. Then while one part ofhis consciousness was enwrapped in the trance, he went to see the king Parikshiti in order togive him the teaching of the knowledge of Brahman.

(159) If we consider the spiritual strength, we have to say that Pariskshiti was stronger in thatrespect than the king Dharmaraj, because Pariskshiti had kept in bondage the very person ofKaliyuga, the Kali Himself.

(160) This is because the king Dharmaraj remained on this Earth so long as the Lord Shri Krishnawas living, but as soon as Lord Shri Krishna left this Earth, Dharmaraj also left this world,because he was afraid of Kali, but, Parikshiti used to rule properly by keeping Kali undercontrol, which shows that he was more courageous than the king Dharmaraj.

(161) He was the offspring born from the inherited pure blood of Arjuna through his sonAbhimanyu, and was the grandson of Subhadra the sister of Lord Shri Krishna. His bodywas virtually a gem of spiritual power, because he was protected from death, saved by theLord Shri Krishna Himself.

(162) Who can measure the complete spiritual authority or power of Parikshiti, whose protectionprevented the Brahmastra of Ashwatthama from entering the womb?

(163) He was observing the Lord Shri Krishna, who saved him in the womb, as the God, whodwells in every being, and therefore, he was called by that name Parikshit (the observer).See the greatness of that name.

(164) So Parikshiti, the son of Abhimanyu was born only for the purpose of uplifting the world,which is evident from the fact that through him only, three worlds have got the fountain of thespiritual life in the form of Shri Bhagwat.

(165) He had discrimination and desirelessness, and had sacrificed everything for attaining theabsolute Brahman. When Shri Shuka saw Parikshiti of these qualities, he was very glad.

(166) The anger of Brahmins is strange. By giving curse to Parikshiti, he has actually provokedhim to gain the knowledge of Brahman, and made him worthy of it. Now I offer mysalutations, full of devotion to the feet of such Brahmins, with my body, speech, and mind.

(167) Brahmins are greater than Brahman itself. What should I talk more about this? Let it besufficient to say that the Lord Vishnu still uses the mark of the kick of Bhrugu as a decorativepiece of his chest.

(168) My statement that Brahmin is God of the Brahman also, has been proved to be true. The LordNarayana has taken birth as Veda and become manifest through the Brahmins only.

(169) So Brahmins are the Gods of the Earth. They are the limbs of Parabrahman, and therefore,

those who do not worship Brahmins, are really luckless and pitiable.

(170) Strange is the power of Brahmins! They have compelled the Lord to obey them. See! Whileconsecrating any image it is charged with the power of God by the recital of mantras byBrahmins.

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(171) Listening to the talk of Eknath, the saints said – “Oh! What can we say! Whatever prayersyou make in your devotion, you are bringing out new maxims every time, in regard toliterature and expertise.

(172) You have paid similar respect to Ganapati and Saraswati by giving this god and goddess thequality of Brahman; and in describing the greatness of saints; you have expressed their unitythrough your words of praise.

(173) Then in the description of your family-lineage and your family goddess, you have told astory (of Parshurama), listening to which the mind forgot all the worries totally.

(174) The reverence you have about the saints is the same as you have towards Brahmins; and youhave pleased the Guru by praise. So, your speech is really blessed.

(175) As soon as you began to speak, we recognized by signs that it is the Guru Janardana, who isHimself talking through your mouth.

(176) You have become overwhelmed by emotion and love; but you have to be firm and control itto enable you to tell the story further.”

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(177) (Eknath says) – I had really forgotten this fact. It is good that you have reminded me. It isbecause of this that I have put complete faith at your feet.

(178) I request you that you may please make good, wherever there is some lacunae, and bymaking the book a great success kindly give me a good name and recognition by the saints.

***

(179) The Saints said – “Wonderful! Wonderful! You are right, O the supporter of all poets! Inorder that the book should be u